
| What the Tours Don't Tell You | |||||||||||||
| Tour operators/agencies don't work for free. Someone has to payand that someone is YOU. While the operators imply that someone else is paying the freight through discounts, that's simply not true. If you have any doubt about that, see my "Analysis of a Tour Offering." |
Including eight ways to get on the Old Course at St. Andrews! |
||||||||||||
| Quality accommodations don't have to cost $100-200+ per person per night. That's the typical dollar range for lodging on the package tours. Believe me, you can stay at a "quality B & B" or an "elegant country house" for less than $100-200 per person per night. I'll direct you to a wide range of choices. | |||||||||||||
| Most tee times do not have to be prepaid. Some major courses require 100% prepayment (e.g., Carnoustie, Muirfield, St. Andrews). But most courses charge a nonrefundable green fee deposit ranging from about £10-30. Nevertheless, agencies want you to prepay everything. But, what happens if you get sick? or have a sore back? or you want to go to a museum? or it's just too wet for your taste? Prepaid scheduling limits your flexibility and locks you into a schedule dictated by someone elsenamely the tour operator. Your objective should be to maintain as much flexibility as possible and don't pay for anything until you have to. | |||||||||||||
| Short-notice booking is easy. Foursomes and larger parties are best advised to pre-book (days or months ahead depending upon the course), BUT on many fine Scottish courses on weekdays a golf party from one to four can play with little or no advance booking. Many times you can even "walk on"yes, even during the "high season" and EVEN as a single golfer at the Old Course in St. Andrews. Remember, Scotland and Ireland (each about the size of Maine) have hundreds of golf courses. There's good golf around virtually every corner. | |||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||